The Constantinian Empire

I decided to re-post since I just revised and expanded it a little bit:

Constantine testifies to the historian Eusebeus that the vision that comes to him on the road to battle says, “Conquer under this sign,” and displays the Chi-Rho, an early Christian symbol for the name of Christ. Constantine does conquer; he overcomes his rivals and becomes emperor, uniting the Eastern and Western empires once again and Christianity becomes a tool by which one may conquer. Born at about the time Constantine defeats his rivals under the banner of Christ, Epiphanius views Christianity from this Constantinian perspective.

The outlawed Christianity that has had to fight for its right to exist, a marginal entity, becomes a legal religion in Epiphanius' childhood and the one-and-only imperial religion in his youth. By the time of Epiphanius’ writing, this transition has shifted the worldview of Christians significantly. Christianity is now a tool for the advancement of imperial power.

With the need for apologetic works aimed at the government eliminated, the efforts of Christian writers soon shift focus from convincing outsiders that Christianity is reasonable to creating an appropriate imperial religion. Heresiology, which, to this point, has been a form of theological literature aimed primarily at correcting severe divisions and major theological inconsistencies, which are negatively impacting the life of the church and which are turning outsiders away, soon becomes a political genre aimed primarily at the standardization of a branch of government.

Therefore, for Epiphanius, as for many other Christian children of the Byzantine Empire, Christianity is about power and authority. These are no longer the types of the power and authority exercised in the spiritual realm but rather power and authority to dominate the people and systems of earthly government.

The shift to Constantinople

The Roman Empire that precedes Constantine has split into Eastern and Western areas of oversight. Each division of the empire has had its own set of emperors: the greater took the title Augustus and the lesser Caesar. The emperors immediately preceding Constantine have mobilized the capitol, following the emperor wherever he chooses to establish it. The city of Rome, isolated on the peninsula from much of the empire and under regular danger from the barbarian hordes is no longer a viable option. The choice of Byzantium is a tactical decision designed to reduce the strategic land approaches and to place the seat of the empire in a central location.

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